Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-01-16
THE ORCHESTRA.
THE VIOLA DIscoURsErH ON MUSIC
IN THEATRES
And Fiudsth that the Bands arc Too
Small and the Eusic
Unsuitable.


trimcs.i
Ding!
That was what the curtaiu-hcll said n tDe
Iool-lgliS Gsshed uf.
The leader Of the orchestra poser o's
baton n seconr, hastily glanced aeounl u,
hi- men TO se,. that ties ere ready' ana
then bringing down ui- head WITH ~
ompbattc nod lrt icose the ten meh VINO
constituted his hand.
Wow wow WOW woN.
That va. what the trombone san.
II was IRA IL hear lny'hrns el'c. The
trombone part was wi zen N unison
with the hass. and the pl1yer taSin1
INTO consideration th" su1lla''s al me
blnd. deemed It his du'y % bio" away
~ the iOpof his power
TcCdlc-rc-il dun, iecdle.de'dee'
Thai was what The Que, clar net, ana
strings were saving. but i was almost I'M
possible 10 hear them.
Ta.a.ah. d"-a-ah ta-tla .dq'dl-ra1 lhIt
vas tue cheerful remark OF the c'Vhe''
ALWAYS forte; forte with glim resolution
mat would Rave conquered ia" srrrlel
lpcions of Rome or The muriidGinouS per-
tiracitv OF the lameuted Paul Pry; forte
with permcatlng university Tint u'led
.ncce and even made cracks in It's outer
mos, limits. Blatant, ramp ,nt. chaBhni-
IL N,s the old brass cnrnet that Wa, Ike
Ploto's ANNA nUndi. the soul OF the whole
creation.
The music was hurried through Their
were only sixteen bars Of it; but this WIS
enough 10 ill the musical ear with vain
md unholy lougings for the bliSt 81 thai
final doom 10 which all cOruetS are tending
This was the music VI the the rise OF the
curtain az the beginning Of an emotional
drama in four acts at the Theatre Mock
Francois. WbeO the sixteen bars had zen
rompi(ted the AGED viola and the boy, who
were present rs substitutes in the orchestra
looked at one another and shook their
ueadS.
"Tbot." said the violl, "is what j.
called by the lrreyerent 'pantomime mu'
,ic.'"
"What does that mean :" asked the
boy.
"Did YOU ever 90 to see pantom'me Z
"Ycs, when | was bOr."
"IIelO! what are you now
"Well,I mean when | was a younger
boy"
"Then YOU must remomber that after the
good but unfortunate lover is Transformed
into harlequin, the Oblurate father into
pantaloon, the weak-Wipded heroine into
Columbipe. and the bad lover INFO clown,
and the real fun Of the perform NEE begins,
the orcha,lt2 saws rV2y az lot OF sugar
nd water twaddle Till the pant0mlme winds
up with grand Transformation from the
chamber OF darkness To The realms OF larry
light. where the g,uZe-clad fairies stand
with their arms archr1 over their heads IN
p, as'ng glamour % rcd fire.
''Oh, YES" said the boy, ~ remember
all thot."
"Tben yoI know wha | mean when
call this IuT plutom.me music. II is
meaningless mel0dv ~ >iX-cighth tine
And how yiely u L. played. Butone cln-
moi cXpect ANYTHING better. Look at IN.
baritone flute. one cnriodelie, one cor.
net. ore trouhonc, one drum, one first yiO-
I'm. enc .ccond. one viola, one cello, and
one basso Tniuk ~ II. one poor. nm
haTpy first violin fraubc1lly struggling %
make Itself ho1rd against cOrnct. a from.
one. and 4 drum. What can yOI expect!
What /, 10 become 81 the tone or expression
in such condition II aGtir,; Ten mon
Tor an orchestra There should be NJ
trombone and no drum IN . baud Of thai
.iZe. butrhen theatres must have drumsald
frumpcis Ia make marti 4 noise viii ~ de-
lights the gallery when the army Of ,iX
croOk,d-limb, d supes marches on in di'or.
do'ly array TO whit !iI Brnm Wood sh'II
come 10 Dunsi0ane.'
&" why don { they have larger and better
orchestras n b,atrcsE'
"Thc MANAGERS say u docs not ply them.
Thy contend that people ID not .so 10 the
theatre to hear TIE music. That is trIe
enough: bur ii ynu carry that idea ont 30
il logical conclusion YOU aust admit dat
there Should not be any Music between the
acts al all And, indeed, | know mlny
the1tre.eoerS WHO deem il decided
nuisance. They would prefer 10 have
space, 81 comfortable silence between the
act,. 20 that they could indulge IN
couycrs alton without the eXertiOn Of
sreakIrg loudly. But there IS a large
uortion. and am inclined 10 think 4 ma.
jority, Of theatre gOrrs who ike to have
music between the ac;s, but who would
prefer to have it well played. They do not
want music oi n very high order. Of course.
For instance, no one wOdd want TO hear
BCethOycn's f.enO'e Overture No. , played
as prelude 10 2 strong drama, no matter
how suitable il might be. Nor would any
one wish to hear Bach iuue or SYM
phOnic movement played between the acts
What kind Of music do you think they
ought TO have, them"
"Therc is great field to Gull from 1
Don't YOU suppose that people could enjoy
hearing a selection from Ada played by
a good orchestra OF from twenty to twenty
five men between the acts Don't you
suppose they would enjoy cOmmendlble
performance OF Nicolai's Merry Wives Of
Windsor overture, GounOd's 'FunerJl
March Of a Marionette,' or something Of
that kind? My idea would be to make
programme such A. you would have for
part OF good popular concert; fur
bespiel, something like this for tige-act
play: No. /. overture, MERRY Wives Of
Windsor Nicola; No. ,, Marche In
dienne, 'L'Airicaue,' Meyerbecr; No.
3, grand selection, Carmen BiZet;
No. 4, walter, sounds from the
Vienna Woods Strauss: No. ,, valse lente
ct piZZicati, sylvia DeiDes There is B
programme that will pl ase any audience.
no matter how unmusic, it may be. And
| would have this music pla; Ell with all
possible finish Instead OF that, what do
You hear? Overture, BIlfc's Bohe-
~ ian GiH,' played IN 4 peffunctory man
ner. which shows that the musicians take
rs lit lc interest in il as the audience;
waltz, 'Seesaw selection. 'Little TG-
COON corntt solo, Hail Columbia AMI
eBaInyard Polka Mud all OF these thing,
are played in the most slipshOd man.
uor. The conductor stAres bllnkly AZ the
tady.painted medallion on the lower part
Of the curtain aud moves his baton As II he
were a piece OF M ,chlnery wound up. T1e
band catches his mood and SAWS away In Il
most mechanical mlnuer. The who,e
thing is without life, and It deadens the
artistic sensibilities Of the audience and
makes them less appreclllige OF the play.
Music might and ought To be made an at.
tractive feature in theatres. Bat the
entT 'acte music Is not L . worst feature"
Wv hat is, then!'
4" The melodTlmatic music. or all the
rubbish that was ever let loose the music
which accompanies action on the stage is
the worst. And | 81, that with full
knowledge OF the fact that the lie Iders Sc.
lect much Of ii from the works OF good
COMPOSER"
"That is rather curious"
Yes, isn't Itf"
How do you explain your assertiOu?"
"Simply thus: The matter Is not select
ed with good judgment, and il il not well
scored. In the first place nine times out
Of ten the music does not tit the situation.
Now, look what we Just played; sixteen
bars Of iDane melody OF a rather lively ia.
ture. and for what? The curtain rise lnd
displays a pastoral scene with a sunset
effect. How much better it would be TO
have prelude that should last minute
or two before the curtain rises aud
do ouu.u I'm a1apffyo 1iunf.